The SECURE Act (the “Act”) passed the House with bipartisan support and is on its way to the Senate with predictions that it could end up on the President’s desk by the end of the year. Here are some highlights of this potential legislation. 1. Longer Life means Later Mandatory Distributions. To account for increases in life expectancy, the Act would increase the age for required minimum distributions from 70 ½ to 72. The Act will also repeal the [...]

Bipartisan US senators are proposing legislation in an effort to secure workers’ retirement benefits in the long run, through the formation of a new retirement commission that would guide private retirement plans to a more sustainable future. Coined the Federal Retirement Commission Act, Sens. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, and Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, would create a group responsible for reviewing private benefit programs and submitting to Congress recommendations on how to improve or replace the programs. [...]

Pension reform in Brazil cleared a congressional hurdle late on Tuesday after a lengthy and tumultuous debate, a sign that the government was finally building support for its most important economic reform, but which may face a steep climb ahead. The Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee (CCJ) in the lower house of Congress approved the constitutionality of a reform bill by 48 votes to 18, paving the way for analysis and discussion by a special commission. However, that optimism [...]

An effort to shore up troubled pension plans for many middle-class workers comes with a squishy price tag. A bill (S 2147) by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would create a Pension Rehabilitation Administration within the Treasury Department that could make loans to multiemployer pension plans for union workers. Those plans have been estimated to be underfunded by about $65 billion, endangering the retirements of about 1.5 million residents nationwide. The Congressional Budget Office had provided a preliminary estimate several [...]

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, who has been sounding the alarm on a pending pension crisis and was named co-chair of the newly-formed Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans, spoke at a National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Sen. Brown continues to work to strengthen and improve programs that protect senior citizens, so future generations can enjoy retirement with a sense of security. Source: GoIAM.org

Argentine lawmakers passed the controversial pension legislation Tuesday in a 128 to 116 vote after debating for more than 12 hours. The bill, which had already passed the Senate, angered many retirees and sparked huge protests on the streets of Buenos Aires on Monday night. Masked demonstrators hurled firecrackers, bottles and gasoline bombs at police officers guarding the Congress building. Security forces in the Argentine capital responded with water canons and fired rubber bullets at demonstrators. According to reports, as many [...]

Brazil’s Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles will speak to major credit rating agencies on Thursday as the government scrambles to avoid a sovereign debt downgrade due to growing doubts that its proposed pension reform can rein in surging public debt. A vote on the unpopular bill to overhaul the social security system, seen as vital to closing the fiscal deficit, has been delayed to 2018 after failing to muster support in Congress. Lawmakers have warned that handling the hot-button issue [...]

Albert Einstein once said we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. Unfortunately, when it comes to the nation’s struggling public pensions, now more than $1 trillion in debt, that’s exactly what’s been happening. For years, state and local policymakers have been trying to keep their heads above water, while ignoring the coming pension debt tsunami. That is until recently. Over the past year, three states have made the tough decision to tackle [...]

The pension overhaul proposed by Brazil’s government can be approved by Congress next year despite upcoming elections if there is no time to do so in 2017, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles told journalists on Tuesday. Meirelles also said he expects to submit to Congress within two weeks a bill empowering creditors in debt restructuring processes. Source: Reuters

The government will publish a five-year roadmap for pension reform which will include the introduction of an auto enrollment pension scheme, Leo Varadkar said last night. In a speech to employers group Ibec last night, the Taoiseach also said his Government will outlaw zero-hour contracts in new legislation which take precedence during this Dáil term. Mr Varadkar outlined pension reform as one of the five key principles of the Government’s economic policy and said this ‘roadmap’ will be published [...]

Servicemarks

Lifetime Income Security Account (LISA) is a service mark of CORPaTH. Guaranteed Lifetime Income Account (GLIA) is a servicemark of CORPaTH. CORPaTH is a SAGE Solution: Sustainability Advocacy Governance and Education. CORPaTH is a Joint Labor Management Initiative.